Construction and civil engineering have a significant role to play in the development of our world, but with that comes a lot of waste. According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the UK construction industry produces around 100 million tonnes of waste every year, and this waste is more often than not sent to landfill, causing significant damage to the environment.

As technologies advance and the need to reduce our carbon footprint increases, construction and civil engineering companies are finding new ways to innovate in their eco-friendly practices, and the solutions are proving to not just be environmentally conscious, but also cost-effective.

At Minster Group, we recycle around 50% of the road material we handle, with old roads being used to make new ones along with industrial yards or car parks, which can be 100% recycled. Recycled material can be used to create the sub-base, base and binder course layers of new roads, in place of virgin mineral aggregate. This is part of our ongoing commitment to recycling materials and championing the benefits of being a bit more environmentally friendly.

What do I need to consider when it comes to construction waste recycling?

With the construction and civil engineering industries utilising a vast array of materials on projects, there are many different second-life purposes that can be devised for the waste that is produced. For instance, bricks can be crushed and used to create recycled aggregate for new builds or landscaping, while metals like copper and aluminum retain their properties even after being recycled, creating various opportunities to reuse them elsewhere. Concrete is also easily recycled, cutting waste and emissions.

This forward-thinking approach comes with many different benefits, whether it be reducing your overall landfill waste, complying with modern regulations or even cutting costs on the overall project. There are, however, a few things you need to consider if you’re looking to reduce the carbon footprint of any civil engineering project.

The first is to collaborate with a recognised specialist recycling or waste management company, to ensure that your construction waste is being handled and managed within guidelines. Failure to do this could result in you getting stung with fines for environmental harm. At Minster, we have our own specialist recycling firm, Alliance Recycling, which uses the latest green technologies to save hundreds of thousands of tonnes of material from going to waste, reducing our reliance on quarrying and crude oil resources.

Coinciding with this is the important matter of organising waste documentation, which keeps you in compliance with the Environment Protection Act and offers transparency for future audits.

Reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill not only creates a positive environmental impact, but it can also have financial benefits too – for example, shrinking any landfill tax you have to pay to remove waste from construction sites. It can also help you develop a strong reputation in your community, as well as position you as an attractive option for future large contracts.

Most people would expect that sustainable civil engineering would cost significantly more than traditional, more wasteful alternatives. Many companies that use recycling do indeed charge more, but that shouldn’t be the norm. At Minster, we have developed a highly efficient circular economy approach that means materials extracted from one project are recycled and reused in future works. This reduces our materials costs so you won’t be paying a premium for sustainable civil engineering.

How can Minster help with my construction waste recycling?

Minster Group offers a wide range of construction and engineering services, be it road surfacing, drainage, industrial yards, car parks and more. Within each of our services we have created award-winning recyclable solutions and are constantly developing new technologies to consistently improve our recycling rates.

We were one of the first companies in the country to use Foambase technology, which produces a foamed bitumen product out of recycled material including asphalt, concrete and rubble. The technology is so advanced that it even enables us to recycle materials containing potentially hazardous coal-tar, offering additional reductions to our carbon footprint.

And it’s not just waste from our own projects that we recycle – we have taken our approach to recycling one step further by utilising local authority waste to create a new product for verge strengthening. The waste is primarily recovered from the bins and stockpiles created by the local authority in their day-to-day operations, including Macadam, concrete and hardcore. We then bring the waste to our HQ and make it into a new Type 5 material which we use for verge strengthening, repairing roadsides that have been damaged by heavy vehicles. 

If you’re looking for help with construction material recycling, contact our team today to see how we can offer you a sustainable, cost-effective and efficient solution.